Welcome to your new life

A woman was amongst the refugees at the feast, standing out due to two factors; one, her purple hair, and two, the fact that she had a young girl child with her. The woman held onto the girl as if she were the only thing that matter in the world, and from the look on her face, it’s quite possible she was. Her eyes, irises naturally a burgundy hue, were bloodshot from crying and her body looked worn from lack of sleep. Yet the goddess remained strong, putting up a brave and serious face for her daughter who clung to her, looking up at her occasionally, her eyes filled with worry.

It was certain if they had arrived with the other people as no one could say for certain if they had seen her step through the portal. Truth be told, Circe had been living in Asgard in secret since almost the very beginning on Ultron’s onslaught. Her nights had been filled with terrible dreams; dark, jumbled, and twisted things that she barely could make sense of. All that she knew was disaster would soon come, as the feeling of dread sat in her stomach like a lead weight. Not even the woman she loved could sway her from her thoughts. Despite Zarda’s efforts, Circe still made plans against the unknown. The day the attack came, the spell to take them all to safety was nearly ready, save for a few crucial elements. Zarda decided to buy them some time. Circe begged and pleaded with her, reasoning that her magic could hide them well enough and that they would be gone soon anyways. “Just stay here. They will go after others first. We are no concern to them,” she said, arms holding tight to the other woman. “I promised that I would protect you and I will. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Finish your spell,” Zarda replied, giving Circe that wry smirk of hers and kissing her tenderly. She wished that kiss would never end, almost willing it to last for all eternity, but the goddess soon felt the soft breeze of her exit. She should have screamed, yelled at her to wait since there was nothing more to do for the spell but to allow it to finish and invoke it. Tense minutes passed until she finally felt it; an explosion ripping through the earth and air, causing shockwaves and the familiar bond that had always been present in Circe’s head ever since they were married was abruptly severed. Moments later, the goddess felt a tug of magic and, still in shock, she triggered it without thinking. Her wife had died seconds before salvation.

But perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps Zarda had lasted and could be healed. She had survived worse. Frantic, Circe scoured the field she landed in, but all she and her daughter found was the melted remains of a silver pendant in the center of a dark smudge in the grass. It had been the first gift Circe had ever given Zarda, promising the magic inside would always keep her safe. The metal was warped, cracked, and tarnished, ruined in its effort to keep its wearer alive.

Weeping, Circe did the only thing she knew she could do. She mourned. Despite having a large family and having lived for so long, Circe could count on a single hand the number of people she had mourned in her life. Zarda was the fourth, but this was the first time her heart was well and truly broken. There was no body to bury, no libations to pour, and she did not know the burial customs of Zarda’s own race, so instead, she improvised. Pulling a knife out of thin air, she cut a large lock of hair off, letting it fall upon the smudge. Lyta did like wise, which earned her a sad but proud smile from her mother. She then braided the hair into a wreath, small as it was. Funeral customs varied throughout the world, but there was always one thing the dead recognized. That was blood. Taking the knife once more, Circe sliced her palm and squeezed drops of blood over the smudged earth as an offering. There she stayed for three days and three nights, praying and crying, hoping for her love would have safe passage into the Elysian Fields. “Gods of the Underworld, please let her find rest,” she whispered. “Please let her seek no vengeance and keep her from wandering restlessly. Even if she threatens you with bodily harm, tell her to rest and find happiness. It was not her failure. It was mine. She is stubborn and will likely not listen, but tell her that anyway. Gods of the Underworld, that is my plea.”

On the third day, clad in black, Circe burned both the wreath and the spot of earth. Taking the ashes, she pressed them into the ruined pendant. There was no magic in it, save for combining the two elements, but it was all she had left of Zarda. Rubbing the last of the ashes on her forearms, she and Lyta left the area, living in quiet and solitude until the announcement for salvation was made and she joined the other refugees. Not she quietly sat at the table, watching the people as they milled around. She knew who they all were, her magic ensured that, but she saw no allies among them. Not that it mattered. As of right now, she was done with mortal affairs. Let the earth burn and break apart for all she cared.

Natasha looked surprised at Bobbi, then her face was filled with shame. “I… I want to make sure you’re safe. I want to make sure you’re protected. I…” She paused, realizing what she was about to say. This was not her, this was not the woman she was trained to be. She was turning paranoid. Seeing danger where there wasn’t any. They were on Asgard. Both her and Bobbi had already had the super soldier serum, or at least a variant of it, in their body. Now, they were on par with the people here. There was no reason to be stronger, they were safe here, right?

Natasha then did something she rarely ever did in public or private. Her body bent. That strong, steel core of her, trained since a young age, through both military and dance education, to be straight and structured and unbreakable… it bent. She leaned ever so slightly on Bobbi, needing support. Most would think it was from fatigue, but even that seemed questionable. Assassins, especially the Black Widow, didn’t just bend. “You’re all I have left in this world,” she admitted softly into Bobbi’s ear. “I lost my parent, my identity, my daughter, my husband, my country, my self, my foster father, friends, lovers, teammates, my purpose, and my home. You are the only thing left for me right now. You are all that is keeping me from playing a game of Russian Roullette or just become a hermit on some lonely mountain. I want this all over, but I don’t want to lose you. Look at Steve, Bobbi. He is broken. He knows it. Meanwhile, I’ve been broken so many times that I don’t know what I am anymore. You’re the only thing keeping me together. I lose you and my nightmares become reality. No more Natasha, Natalia, or whatever my name is. The Widow would only be left.”

At Steve's words, Natasha immediately straightened and regained her composure. She didn't want him to see how badly she was affected. It would likely only make him feel worse.

"Your wife on another earth?" she asked, a bit surprised by that. She had always thought Steve and Sharon would end up together, or, if that didn't work out, that he would be an aging bachelor. "Looks like Tony and Clint will lose that bet they have going." Natasha then glanced at Steve's son. Examining him, there was not doubt about who he was; the mannerisms and how he carried himself definitely implied being related to Steve. "Congratulations, Steve. I'm sure you're quite happy about that," she smiled, leading their little group to a nearby table in the hall.

Circe was entirely unaware of Zarda's presence in the hall. Though there was food in front of her, she ignored it all. Lyta, however, was not so inclined and she ate happily looking at everything. Every so often, Circe would grimace as her magic would flare up, almost teasing her with a sensation of Zarda's presence. It had happened before, where she could almost sense her again on their island home. But it was a brief, fleeting experience, and she was not about to endanger her child solely due to a fluke in her magic. Emotions tended to affect things like that. That's all it had been she kept telling herself. A fluke.

Still, she found herself crying at the table, tears quietly rolling down her cheeks as she curled up, pulling her cloak tighter around her body. Lyta looked at her mother a bit confused. She knew why she was crying, but maybe, if she could distract her with something else, everything would be better. Perhaps the cooks could make her up a special food like ice cream or something else sweet. Deciding that was what was needed, Lyta excused herself, wandering off the find the kitchen or waitstaff, and walked right past Zarda without realising it.

Bobbi watched Natasha and realized what was happening to her it took longer than it should have but it finally caught up with her. “Tasha you always have my back and that’s all the protecting I need. You don’t need to become one of them to keep me safe.” Sure weird things where going on around them right now it kind of felt normal no one was being slaughtered by robots. Just a lot of drama going on and such.

Bobbi wrapped an arm around the redhead and made a bit of a face wondering when she had a daughter. It must have been before she had been born when Natasha still worked for the Russians. As far as she knew the older woman couldn’t have children. “You won't lose me nothing will happen to me other then maybe working a week without a day off.” She pulled the older woman closer and kissed her on the cheek. “We all lost a lot during this nightmare but now we have a chance to start over. Sure we don’t have TV or could order pizza if we don’t feel like cooking but it beats living in a hole in the ground. As long as we’re together we’ll be fine.” she said before taking a seat next to Tasha the food was already on the table waiting for them along with drinks she was guessing it was mead.

Something suddenly dawned on her it was kind of a strange but it did sort of fit. “This is sort of like the Terminator movies only there isn’t any Conner’s or Resistance and Skynet is replaced with Ultron.” It did sound weird but it did remind her of it when she thought of it.

Zarda didn’t move from where she was she wasn’t really worried that Circe would hurt her even though she was mad that she had sat in Lyta’s chair. The kid was young she could sit on the floor or her lap because it didn’t really look like Circe was stable enough to have the girl on her lap. “Down girl. No need to get your undies in a bunch.” she said noticing how Circe looked like she was about to rip her spine out and strangle her with it.

“I’m not dead Circe….not anymore.” Zarda said watching the woman next to her react to seeing her here. “I don’t have a clue how I’m alive again no one was there to tell me why I’m alive and I didn’t get a letter or note telling me why.” but she had a feeling the catch to her being alive again was going to show itself sooner or later but until then she was going to enjoy this second chance at life.

“I’m just here so I went looking for you and found the island in a mess with you and Lyta gone. So I wandered about until I crossed paths with a group of people they told me about Asgard so I stuck with them and ended up here.” Zarda wanted to pull Circe to her and hold her tight but she wasn’t really sure if that was a good idea Circe looked like she was about to run or scream for help. Nether was a really good idea.

The two women said little to one another but they made an alliance to keep the peace. The Angelus turned away from Aldrif who stood behind waiting for what was about to happen. The Angelus gazed out at the now empty area all the human’s had moved on and within seconds the area refilled with the warrior’s of the Angelus. Most were women but there were men there they stuck out more than the females most seemed normal except a few had unblinking eyes on their blood red wings. While others were the size of the Hulk there were a few that were even bigger than that they were more along being the size of a troll. The troll sized one’s had circular handrails on their backs where a female angel stood.

Moving as one they bowed before their queen waiting for the signal to move because they already knew their orders. The Angelus raised her hand and they began to move those that could took to the air while the troll sized one’s walked off head their places. Because of everything that was going on they had little on guard leaving Asgard wide open for attack so The Angelus summoned a number of her warriors to aid them in keeping Asgard safe and if need be she could bring in many more. But for now this would do. When they were gone Aldrif headed off to join everyone in the hall. Just after she left The Angelus shifted back into her mortal form and followed after the All-Mother.